1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the transmission of data between devices coupled to a high speed bus system. More particularly, the present invention relates to the packet format transmitted across a high speed bus system and the processing of the same by devices coupled to the bus.
2. Art Background
A computer bus is utilized for communication of information among master and slave devices coupled to the bus. Generally, a bus comprises a plurality of transmission lines to which the devices are coupled. Address, control, and data information are multiplexed over the transmission lines forming the bus. The information is communicated across the bus in many different formats. One such format is a packet format in which data is bundled in packets for transmission on the bus across multiple clock cycles. An example of a bus which utilizes packets is described in PCT international patent application number PCT/US91/02590 filed Apr. 16, 1991, published Oct. 31, 1991, and entitled Integrated Circuit I/O Using a High Performance Bus Interface.
An example of a packet issued by a requesting device is illustrated in FIG. 1. Using bus lines BusCtl and BusData7:0!, in the first bus cycle the type of bus access and the master device (i.e., requesting device) is provided. In the second through sixth bus cycles the address of the requested data and the block size are provided.
However, as the speed of transmission of information on the bus increases, the speed required of the receiving devices to process the packet needs to also increase in order to reduce the latency and realize the advantages of the increased speed of transmission across the bus. Furthermore, it is desirable to decrease the die space consumed while maintaining full functionability at the bus interface.